BARRINGTON -- It keeps happening to young Rhode Islanders with car keys. And it happened last night in Barrington -- in Barrington, one more time.

A Barrington High School student was killed and three other male students injured in a car crash in which the driver has been charged with driving under the influence, the police said late this morning.

The victim is Jon Converse, a 17-year-old junior, according to Barrington High School Principal John Gray, who spoke briefly to reporters outside the Converse home at 2 Old River Road early this afternoon.

“The family is devastated … only someone who has experienced the loss of a child can know what this means,” Gray said.

Jon's father, Dan Converse, called his son's death "another needless tragedy," in an interview with the Barrington Times.

"I really can't embellish or elaborate at this point. And I don't want to get on a soapbox," Converse said.

For a reporter headed to the address today, the route was familiar. Two years ago, another Barrington teenager, Michael Neubauer, was a passenger -- and one one of two teenagers killed -- in a one-car crash in which speed was a factor on Nayatt Road. Neubauer had lived a few houses down from the Converses on Old River Road.

Converse was a front-seat passenger in the crash last night, the police said in a statement before noon. He was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown partly out of the passenger-side window.

A preliminary investigation found that underage drinking was involved in the evening of the crash. Police said the driver was traveling south at high rate of speed, over the 25 mph limit.

The driver, a 16-year-old Barrington male, was charged with driving under the influence, death resulting. He was also charged with refusing to submit for chemical test for a person under age 18.

The car was carrying four teenage males from Barrington, according to the police. The police did not release any of the names in their statement, and referred reporters with more questions to a press conference they have scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

The driver was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with minor injuries. Two rear-seat passengers -- one 16 and one 17 -- also received minor injuries, police said.

Journal photo / Bob Thayer

A young woman prays at the crash site on New Meadow Road in Barrington.

Police said a 911 call was received at 10:51 p.m. reporting a bad crash in the area of 200 New Meadow Road, a narrow road that wends along the river and features sharp curves in the town's Hampden Meadows section.

He apparently lost control of car, crossed the double yellow lines into the northbound lane, and struck a tree on the east side of road.

There is no school in Barrington today because of professional development training.

At midday, under gray and wet skies, several teens stood under umbrellas at the crash site. They faced the tree where the car had hit, and bouquets of flowers that have since been placed there.

"All you need to know is he always had a smile on his face," said a classmate, who wouldn't give his name.

The community recently was faced with another alcohol-related death of a Barrington High teen, Patrick Murphy, 17, in a skimboarding accident this past July on Barrington River.

In that case, the 17-year-old driver of the boat was charged with one felony count of reckless operation, death resulting, and a misdemeanor count of refusing to submit to a chemical test sought the state Department of Environmental Management.

In the crash involving Neubauer and driver Zachary Stiness, both of whom were killed in 2005, speeding was a factor but a police investigation concluded there was no correlation between a party the boys had attended and the crash.

But several in this well-to-do suburb of Providence have recently decried the incidence of alcohol and substance abuse among its teens.

Counselors will be available when the students return to the classroom tomorrow.

"I have my crisis team here," Gray said. "We are developing a strategy for how to embrace the kids when they return to schools."

Gray said counselors would first try to help the students cope with the emotional impact of a classmate's death.

"The next step," he said, "is trying to respond to whatever the details are that may be revealed in terms of helping kids to make decisions that will lead to safer lives."

Patrick "Buzz" Guida, the Barrington School Committee chairman who lives on the corner where the accident happened, said the news is so horrible he's still trying to process it.

"We're devastated," he said.

With all the school programs trying to encourage youngsters to make smart choices, "I continue to struggle with how we can be better educators, administrators, parents, and School Committee to try to ingrain this message of the risk and the danger of this behavior. It's frightfully frustrating," he said.

Guida said he's been hearing all day from townspeople who feel a similar frustration. "The mood is extremely somber."

"It's hard to imagine how tragedy can be concentrated in one community over such a short extension of time," Guida said. "We have been so proactive in trying to identify a way of communicating the dangers of this behavior, and now this happens."

Guida said it's time for parents to recognize that they have to be parents, not necessarily friends, to their children, and to say no to the idea of any underage drinking. "A little bit of social drinking at this age is NOT okay, simply because human beings at this age do not appreciate the consequences of that behavior."

Some teens think they're safe if they have a sober designated driver. That's not okay either, he said, because "they can engage in dangerous behavior even if the driver is stone sober. Kids do stupid things that are distracting or worse to the driver."

"This is one of those situations where there isn't a happy medium," said Guida. "You simply can't do it."

Town Council President Jeffrey S. Brenner called it a senseless tragedy. He said the town, including the municipal government and the school department, has done everything within its power to educate parents and children of Barrington and to encourage them to make good choices.

"The town offers its sympathy to the family of Jon Converse," said Brenner. "His family has been very active with Barrington Youth Soccer for many years. We'll continue to do what we can to prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future."

The mood around town is "sorrow for the families and puzzlement as to what to do next," said Barrington Town Councilwoman June Speakman, who has a child at the high school. "It leaves you at a loss about what to do about this kind of thing."

She said police Chief John LaCross has worked particularly hard to sensitize teens to the dangers of underage drinking. "He's stunned," said Speakman.

"We're trying on all levels," said Kathleen Sullivan, coordinator of the town's substance abuse task force, officially known as the Barrington Adult Youth (BAY) Team.

She said the group had 25 people at the monthly task force meeting today, "which is unheard of. We usually get 10 to 15. But then you come home and find out the next day that you've lose another youth."

"It's sad, painfully sad,'' she said.

Sullivan said townspeople are also feeling frustrated and "a little bit of anger because they're asking, 'What is it going to take for these kids and their parents to learn.'"

Police are asking that anyone with any information leading up to the crash to call detectives at 401-437-3937 or the nonrecorded police tip line at 401-437-3933, where the identity of a caller will remain confidential.

-- With reports from Journal staff writers Meaghan Wims and C. Eugene Emery Jr. and projo.com staff writers Jack Perry and Brandie Jefferson